The Charter System
The Charter Ships (often simply called charter) are a fleet of merchant ships which form a fairly extensive shipping transport infrastructure which includes popular docks as well as ports in remote locations, run by a wealthy merchant named Trader Stan and his crew. Players must pay a fee ranging from 200 to 3,200 coins for transportation on the charter ships. The fee is dependent on the destination - destinations which are further away or more remote than others have a higher cost. As with all nautical travel in RuneScape, the transportation time is only a few seconds, during which a map of Gielinor with the destinations labelled is displayed, and an animation of a ship travelling from the point of embarkment to the destination is played. The short duration of the travel and the variety of destinations - the more remote of which having few alternate methods of transportation - make the charter ships favourable to other transportation systems, although some charter ship routes have higher costs than other transportation methods.
The map is slightly incomplete, and the southern parts of places like the Feldip Hills are omitted, possibly because of their lack of a port, and hence unneeded in the charter map.
Trader crewmembers stand at the docks of each destination in the charter ships network, and Trader Stan himself is present at the Port Sarim dock. In addition to allowing players to charter the shipping network, the crewmembers also run Trader Stan's Trading Post, a more versatile and exotic form of a general store, which sells many items of interest as well as a few commodities which aren't stocked in specialty stores, such as Tyras helms, which are unavailable anywhere else.
Getting to the charter ships
While travelling by charter ship can be convenient for players who can afford it, it can be a bit time consuming to get to the ship in the first place, as there is no teleport that goes right next to a ship. Some of the quickest ways to get to the ships are:
- The fastest known way is to use the Lunar spell Catherby Teleport, which puts you close to the dock for the Catherby ship.
- Use an Ectophial to go to the Ectofuntus and enter Port Phasmatys. The docks are somewhat near the Port Phasmatys entrance.
- Use a Camelot Teleport and run south-east to Catherby and its docks.
- Use an Ardougne Teleport to go to the Ardougne marketplace, run south to Captain Barnaby and take his boat to Brimhaven. The boat trip arrives at the Brimhaven docks.
- A spirit tree in Port Sarim. Planting the spirit tree requires 83 Farming; using the spirit tree network requires completion of the Tree Gnome Village quest.
- The Lunar spell Khazard Teleport takes you to Port Khazard.
- Fishing Trawler minigame teleport to Port Khazard.
Fares
- After completing the Cabin Fever quest, the price between two locations, as displayed below, will lower the charter costs to 50%.
- The Ring of Charos(a) also lowers the charter costs to 50%.
- These cost reductions can be combined to reduce the costs to 25%.
- Another way to reduce the fare, when travelling to or from Port Sarim or Musa Point, is to utilise the ship from Port Sarim to Musa Point to reduce the fare. For example, if travelling from Musa Point to Port Phasmatys, the fare is normally 2900gp. By travelling to Port Sarim and taking the charter ship from there, the cost is reduced to 1330gp.
| Destination | Brimhaven | Catherby | Karamja (Musa Point) | Mos Le'Harmless | Port Khazard | Port Phasmatys | Port Sarim | Ship Yard | Port Tyras |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brimhaven | N/A | 480 | 200 | 975* | 1600 | 2900 | 1600 | 400 | 3200 |
| Catherby | 480 | N/A | 480 | 1750* | 1600 | 3500 | 1000 | 1600 | 3200 |
| Karamja (Musa Point) | 200 | 480 | N/A | 225* | 400 | 2900 | N/A | 200 | 3200 |
| Mos Le'Harmless | 725* | 625* | 1025* | N/A | 1025* | N/A | 325* | 275* | 1600* |
| Port Khazard | 1600 | 1600 | 1600 | 1025* | N/A | 4100 | 1280 | 1600 | 3200 |
| Port Phasmatys | 2900 | 3500 | 2900 | N/A | 4100 | N/A | 1300 | N/A | 3200 |
| Port Sarim | 1600 | 1000 | N/A | 325* | 1280 | 1300 | N/A | 400 | 3200 |
| Ship Yard | 400 | 1600 | 200 | 225* | 720 | N/A | 400 | N/A | 3200 |
| Port Tyras | 3200 | 3200 | 3200 | 1600* | 3200 | 3200 | 3200 | 3200 | N/A |
| * Since travel to and from Mos Le'Harmless requires Cabin Fever to be completed anyway, the cost is already halved. |
On the charter ship map, the destination labelled 'Karamja' is Musa Point on the island of Karamja. Brimhaven and the Ship Yard, which are also on Karamja, are also charter ship destination on that island.
Quest requirements
- Mos Le'Harmless - Cabin Fever
- Ship Yard - The Grand Tree
- Port Tyras - Regicide
- Port Phasmatys - Entered Morytania (unlocked after Priest in Peril)